Apps are Not the Main Reason Why People Buy Smartphones [Study]

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The reason users prefer smartphones these days is because they run complete operating systems, acting like mini computers that you talk on. Another reason has to do with the fact that smartphones are highly customizable using various applications (more or less useful) — but with a lesser importance.

Speaking of importance, a recent study by Deloitte has concluded that in fact it’s not applications that gets people into buying smartphones. Apparently only 18% of US users, who own or plan to own a smartphone, are influenced by apps, with 58% saying that the mobile phone’s price and features is what actually influences their buying decision.

“As devices continue to add functionality, coupled with consumers increasingly learning about valuable apps, this can save them from carrying multiple devices and grant them better access to an array of media, entertainment and information. We expect far more people to download and use apps in the future, which will have a profound impact on smartphone sales,” says Craig Wigginton, partner and telecommunications leader for Deloitte & Touche LLP.

In the meantime, Google’s Android Market is packed with about 100,000 apps, while Apple brags with nothing less than 250,000 applications in the App Store.

Here are other interesting finds from the survey:

42% percent of app users “have reduced or completely eliminated their use of MP3 players in favor of smartphones or tablets”

38% of app users “have ceased or diminished their use of traditional AM/FM radios”

30% “are moving away from their handheld videogame consoles”

28% “are shunning their stand-alone GPS devices”

Is it just me or the smartphone has become, for many of us, an indispensable tool for our day-to-day routine?